Bitpanda

Trading Accounts

*This is not the official number given by the company, but our calculation of the mark-up.

Bitpanda (previously known as Coinmal) is one of the easiest ways to enter the cryptocurrency space. They are primarily focused on the European markets, competing with Bitstamp and CoinCorner.

The company, security of funds

Company

Country

Regulation

Coinimal GmbH

Austria

N/A

Bitpanda is owned by Coinimal GmbH, an Austrian company. Their website claims they were “in coordination with the local authorities”, but no specific licensing is provided.That being the case there haven’t been much complaints about Bitpanda’s honesty, since its inception in 2014. This is generally a good enough sign, as regulation for the crypto space is at various stages in different countries (none in most). Bitpanda is aimed towards newcomers to the world of cryptocurrencies.

They offer a transaction time lower than two minutes, which may attract somebody who is unfamiliar to the cryptocurrency space, but is by no means suitable for active trading.

There hasn’t been a major hack on Bitpanda yet. There have been some reports from users, whose accounts have been compromised, but this has been due to their own lack of care.

Trading conditions

Trading instruments (cryptocurrencies)
Only four of the major coins are currently supported at Bitpanda. They include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. While this may appear like a lack of variety to some, keep in mind this is an entry service, aimed at those who are not familiar with cryptocurrencies. These can currently only be traded against the Euro.

Deposit limits
Not much is known about a minimum deposit level at Bitpanda. That being said, we must note there are maximum limitations, depending on your verification level. You can get to a daily limit of €1,500 after confirming your e-mail and phone number.

Leverage
Bitpanda is one of the companies, which do not allow trading on leverage. Think of it, more like a platform, which allows currency conversion, instead of a trading venue. That being said, one can easily transfer coins to another exchange, which allows margin trading, like Kraken.

Fees
Probably the most interesting thing about Bitpanda is the fact there is no information on the fees, charged by the company. They are included in the end-price you get after purchasing your desired coins. The lack of clarity is concerning. Our (possibly not precise) calculations revealed a markup of around 2%.The forex brokers who offer cryptocurrency trading, like IG, pack the costs of trading in their spreads. This isn’t the only specific, which separates the two services. We have done a recap of the entire situation here.

Trading platform

There isn’t much of a trading platform available at Bitpanda. The service is basically a way for you to convert your fiat currencies to one of the supported cryptocurrencies. Here is a preview of the main screen you will see, after registering an account:

On top of that, when purchasing coins, you have an intuitive interface, which looks like this:

While the charting is very basic, nobody should be expecting much, from this kind of company. A mobile app is also available at Bitpanda, but its functionality is even more basic.

Methods of payment

One of the main advantages of Bitpanda is the multitude of payment methods available. They include Bank Transfer, Credit Card, Neteller, Skrill, PaySafe Cards, iDeal, PayU, Ukash, Yandex and a few less-known e-wallets. This covers a lot of ground.

Conclusion

Bitpanda, which was formerly known as Coinmal, is an Austrian company, which specializes in selling cryptocurrencies. They aren’t what most traders will call a typical exchange, but more of a service for people who want to jin the world of crypto. The company does not clearly reveal their mark-up, which we find a bit troublesome (or careless). That being said, the main strength of Bitpanda is the variety of payment methods available, which is not typical for companies in this space. Here are the pros and cons of Bitpanda:

CryptoMate

Trading Accounts

*This exchange does not openly reveal its pricing policy. We got this level from ours own calculations.

Cryptomate.co.uk is a company, which provides a gateway into the world of cryptocurrencies for UK enthusiasts. While CoinCorner is one of the other major entry-level services, supporting the British Pound, there are quite a few differences between the two.

The company, security of funds

Company

Country

Regulation

Cryptomate

UK

N/A

Cryptomate is registered in the UK, but does not fall under any specific financial regulation, unlike Crypto Facilities. That being said the latter offers derivatives trading, while Cryptomate is more of service, than a trading facility.

The company is basically a peer-to-peer network, connecting buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies, although not everybody can sell at the website. In order to become a “vendor” one must contact the website and probably meet some volume requirements. The most unique feature at Cryptomate is that only UK bank transfers are accepted as a payment method.

This “exchange” is one of the few which doesn’t offer a wallet, although they provide useful links for beginners, who can read-up on the topic. When making an order at Cryptomate, you have to provide your own external address, to which the coins will be sent.

Unlike a lot of other companies in the space, Cryptomate has to follow the working hours of UK banks. This is simply due to the fact, each transfer comes has is connected with the Faster Payments Service (FPS). For those of you who are not familiar with it, this is a system connecting British banks, allowing them to make cheaper and faster payments between one another (much like the SEPA system in the EU).

Cryptomate claims around a transaction processing time of aroun 15 minutes. While this is absurd from a trading perspective, it is actually quite fast, when compared to similar services, like CoinTree in Australia.

There haven’t been any reports on hacks at Cryptomate. The fact the company only connects buyers with vendors and does not store any cryptocurrencies has something to do with this – there are very few things which can be hacked.

When it comes to the user reviews, Cryptomate is generally praised. The few complaints we managed to find were in regard to the lack of transparency on the execution. This is a common theme with such services, as the volatility in the crypto-space is very high.

Trading conditions

Trading instruments (cryptocurrencies)

Despite the service being very different from a traditional exchange, the vendors at Cryptomate do offer a lot of variety. At the time of writing of this review 12 coins are available for purchase, namely: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Ark, Dogecoin, Monero, Zcash and Britcoin.

Maximum daily transaction(s)

Cryptomate has set a daily limit of £100 for unverified clients. After submitting your details, this level will be increased to £1,000. These levels are set as an anti money laundering (AML) measure.

Leverage

It should be quite obvious by now, that margin trading is now available at Cryptomate. However one can always transfer her cryptocurrency to a different exchange, like OKEX if speculative trading is the main goal.

That being said, some forex brokers also offer ceyptocurrency CFDs. As an example, the industry-leading UK broker and spread betting provider IG currently has Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. The margin requirements for the two are 7.5%, meaning an effective leverage ratio of 1:13.

Fees

Cryptomate does not disclose the exact fees, which it charges. User reports claim around 7%. Our manual calculations, which may be a bit faulty revealed a similar, if not slightly worse situation. While these fees are not unheard of, given what the company offers, there are slightly cheaper alternatives. However most of them do not support the Pound as a direct payment currency, with CoinCorner being the major exception.

The forex brokers, offering cryptocurrency trading usually do not charge a deposit fee. When you start trading your costs will be included in the spread. However, when trading CFDs you do not get ownership of the actual coins. As we mentioned previously, this is suitable for short-term speculative trading, but for a full comparison be sure to check out our detailed explanation.

Trading platform

When it comes to a “trading platform”, Cryptomate offers basically an order entry form. This is how it is presented to unverified clients:

You have to give them a few details and most importantly, the wallet to which you would like your newly acquired coins to be sent. The information provided on the left side will be useful for newbies in the space.

Methods of payment

As we mentioned in the beginning, in order to present the service, only UK bank transfers are accepted at Cryptomate. While this guarantees fast executions, due to the FPS, it obviously prevents non-British clients to use the service. Adding an option like Skrill, would open the company to a world-wide client-base.

Conclusion

Cryptomate is a British service, which allows newcomers to enter the world of cryptocurrencies. Their offer is tailor-made to UK residents who have a local bank account, as payments utilize the Faster Payments Service (FPS). While this is obviously a beginner-friendly service, the number of available altcoins is relatively nice. Here is a summary of what Cryptomate has to offer:

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